NPR 2011-03-18

President Obama says the US military is working around the clock to help Japan in quake relief efforts and in an attempt to soothe 1 radiation concerns here at home.

"We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it's the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska or US territories in the Pacific."

Earlier today, Mr. Obama stopped by the Japanese embassy and signed a condolence book.

The chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, says US experts in Japan have begun measuring radiation releases from that country's crippled nuclear plant. As NPR's Dan Charles reports, US officials say those measurements have not turned out any big surprises.

In his latest remarks, Jaczko avoided any criticism of Japan's response to the nuclear crisis. Japan's actions so far, he said, had been responsible and prudent 2, even though the US government has urged American citizens to evacuate 3 in much larger area, anywhere within 50 miles of the plant. Jaczko says the evacuation is consistent with policies for any similar situation in the US. But nuclear-safety advocates at the Union of Concerned Scientists say in reality American officials have refused to do any advanced planning for such large-scale evacuations around nuclear plants in the United States. Dan Charles, NPR News, Washington.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the UN Security Council is debating now how best to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's troops from overrunning the opposition 4. And as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, that's likely to include a no-fly zone.

Secretary Clinton has made clear that the US wants to see Arab nations play a role in international action in Libya. At a news conference in Tunisia, she said that a no-fly zone requires the use of force.

"It is important to recognize that military experts across the world know that a no-fly zone requires certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots, including bombing targets like the Libyan defense 5 systems."

Secretary Clinton also praised Tunisia for stepping up to help with the humanitarian 6 crisis as people flee to Tunisia from Libya. It comes at a time when Tunisia is going through its own transition, the Arab uprisings began here. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Tunis.

Congress is buying some time before having to make the tough decisions on the budget. The Senate came up with enough votes this afternoon to pass a sixth stopgap bill that would keep the government running until April 8th. It calls for $6 billion in spending cuts, and the House has passed a bill that bars the use of federal funds by public radio stations to pay NPR dues and by produced radio content from any source.

The Dow was up 161 points.

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Honda is recalling its newest models of the Honda Civic 7 to check for leaking from the car's fuel tank. The company says about 18,000 2011 models are involved. The company found that during assembly a valve inside some fuel pump modules 8 may have been damaged. No crashes or injuries have been reported from the problem.

New York City is awash with green today for the 250th annual St. Patrick's Day parade. NPR's Robert Smith reports only the mayor of New York is creating controversy 9.

Irish from toe to head. But not every eye was smiling. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was still in trouble for a joke he made last month about drunk Irishmen. Dennis Dunn held up a sign along the parade route just for the mayor. Marching along Fifth Avenue, Bloomberg shrugged 10 off the controversy. Perhaps as penance 11, Bloomberg attended Mass at St. Patrick's and later took the microphone at a party. No boo. Robert Smith, NPR News, New York.

It will have to fight the gravitational pull of the sun. But a small NASA spacecraft, the size of a desk, will try to enter Mercury's orbit tonight. If the Messenger spacecraft succeeds, it would be the first man-made object to orbit the tiny planet. The plan is to have the spacecraft circle for a year, taking measurements of the surface of Mercury.